1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope, and more particularly, to a microscope for converting an observed image of a specimen, such as cellular tissue or a microorganism, into a picture signal to be observed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers are utilized in the field of education nowadays. Computerized education is expected to cover various courses of study that utilize actual computers, as well as simple computer training.
In science education, for example, cellular tissue, microorganisms, etc. are directly observed with use of microscopes, and besides, their observed images are supposed to be converted into picture signals, which are to be observed on computers.
A conventional microscope that can generate those picture signals is described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. Publication No. 10-333055. In this microscope, a lens unit is located next to a specimen stage portion, and a CCD unit is situated on a bent optical path that extends from the lens unit. In acquiring a picture signal, a specimen or sample is placed on the specimen stage portion, and the stage portion is rotated to adjust the focus. Thereafter, an optical image of the specimen is formed by means of the lens unit. The optical image formed in this manner is guided through the bent optical path to a CCD image-pickup element of the CCD unit and converted into electric information, whereupon a picture signal is generated.
In the microscope described above, however, the optical image that is fetched by means of the lens unit is guided to the CCD image-pickup element through the bent optical path. Therefore, the microscope requires use of a lot of essential optical parts, so that its construction is complicated and its optical performance is not very high.
According to this conventional microscope, moreover, the focus is adjusted by rotating the specimen stage portion, so that the direction and position of the specimen on the stage portion inevitably shifts during the focus adjustment. Accordingly, its imaging range or picture frame is unstable, so that the microscope is not easy to handle. It is very hard for this microscope, in particular, to acquire picture data of specimens or sample that have directional shapes, among other specimens or sample including cellular tissue and microorganisms that are observed in educational scenes.
As described above, the conventional microscope has a slim optical structure such that the optical image is guided to the CCD image-pickup element through the bent optical path. Thus, the optical path is so complicated that the optical performance of the microscope is poor.